SEQUIM — It’s a chance to dance to the Monkees, the Rolling Stones and the Romantics. And to gyrate to Led Zeppelin’s “Rock and Roll,” Deep Purple’s “Smoke on the Water” and Grand Funk Railroad’s “American Band.”
And don’t be surprised if the music of Jimi Hendrix, Bad Company and the Beatles finds its way inside the Oasis Bar and Grill on Saturday night.
Creme Tangerine, the Seattle-area group known for its Beatles tribute concerts in Sequim for the past two summers, is coming back.
This time, the musicians will dish out a more diverse, dance-friendly blend in a benefit for the Sequim-Dungeness Valley Chamber of Commerce.
The event starts at 6 p.m. Saturday. Tickets are $25 and include the concert, the Oasis buffet and one glass of beer or wine.
Local debut in 2010
At the band’s first Sequim appearance on lavender festival weekend in July 2010, a throng estimated at 2,000 strong came out to dance and cheer the almost-all-Beatles set.
Then, in July of last year, Creme Tangerine’s second outdoor show was wet down by a steady rain. A small fraction of the previous year’s crowd gathered.
The band’s third trip to the Olympic Peninsula put the players on the patio of Olympic Cellars in east Port Angeles on a dry, if not hot, August night. That show drew hundreds, with dancers and listeners overflowing into the parking lot.
The Oasis is the smallest Peninsula venue yet for Creme Tangerine. Just 150 tickets were available for the fundraiser, and by midweek, chamber Executive Director Shelli Robb-Kahler reported about three-fourths of those were spoken for.
Remaining tickets are available only in advance at the chamber’s Visitor Information Center, 1192 E. Washington St., and none will be sold at the door.
“This is the first time we’ve done a dance,” Robb-Kahler said. “The first time out of the gate, we’re trying a smaller venue.”
If this one is a success, she’ll look at bigger rooms, she said.
Robb-Kahler emphasized that dancers will be well-fed Saturday night, since the buffet features the Oasis’ house-made chili and corn bread, Red Hook-battered shrimp and other treats. Dinner and drinks also will be available for additional charges.
Creme Tangerine will deliver two hours of music for dancing: 30 percent Beatles and 70 percent other classic rock, promised band spokesman Jeff Lockhart.
Mixed sets
When the group has been to a community before and done its Beatles thing at least once, the musicians tend to mix it up the next time through. Whatever Creme Tangerine does, Lockhart added, the crowd can plan on “fun, dance-party hits.”
For her part, Robb-Kahler is hoping to translate music into benefits for chamber members. With proceeds from Saturday’s show, she would like to bring a speaker to town to talk about topics such as modern marketing.
The chamber could also make some minor improvements to the Visitor Information Center, she said.
For more details about the fundraiser and about chamber services, phone Robb-Kahler’s office at 360-683-6197.
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Features Editor Diane Urbani de la Paz can be reached at 360-417-3550 or at diane.urbani@peninsuladailynews.com.
